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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22860541">clad in words, scorching with passion</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/asagirigen/pseuds/asagirigen'>asagirigen</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dr. STONE (Anime), Dr. STONE (Manga)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Fluff, Jealousy, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 19:13:32</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,107</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22860541</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/asagirigen/pseuds/asagirigen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Hey, Senku-chan?” Gen asks, reaching out to pet his lover’s hair. “Are you okay?”</p><p>There’s a second of pause before Senku sighs. “You’re trying some Mentalist shit on me right now, aren’t you?” </p><p>“Little bit.” Gen replies, laughing and swinging his legs.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Asagiri Gen/Ishigami Senkuu</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>40</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>555</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. blooming flowers</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>To Asagiri Gen, in this current situation, there were two very important facts regarding his romantic relationship with Ishigami Senku.</p><p>First: Gen’s been in love with Senku ever since he’d seen the writing nearby the Cave of Miracles. From the very second he saw the scribbled down date and thousands and thousands of days, he realized he was in love with whoever was insane enough to count every single second that had passed during humanity’s petrification--hearing details from Tsukasa about Senku only made Gen fall further in love, and the very second he laid eyes on Senku, Gen knew he was <em> hopelessly </em> in love. Love at first stone, perhaps.</p><p>Second: Gen was a Mentalist, and a good one at that. Reading people and their emotions was as easy and natural as <em> breathing. </em> Putting himself in other’s shoes was second nature--as was the manipulation, deception, and sleight of hand required of a Mentalist. </p><p>So, the second Senku acts just a little bit different, a little bit to the left of normal, Gen notices. He sees the usual blank expression of Senku’s falter for just a second--just a split second. Anyone other than Gen couldn’t have noticed.</p><p>“Senku-chan,” Gen starts, propping himself up on the table his boyfriend’s working at. “What are you up to~?”</p><p>The scientist glances upwards at Gen for a brief second, and gestures at the beakers and strange colored liquids on the table. Gen recognizes quite a few of the materials, most notably several beetle carcasses sitting on a piece of paper. “Remember the makeup I made for Kohaku? Well, she was talking about it and word got round. More than a few people asked me to make some more, and we had extra materials laying around.”</p><p>Gen feels himself laugh. “You’re indulging them, huh~” </p><p>Senku looks up to glare at Gen, before returning to his work. “Well, they weren’t gonna stop asking till I did it. I had extra materials around.” He puts his chin in his hand. His left hand. Gen’s sitting on that side. Senku’s hand is placed in such a way that it’d obscure Gen from his vision.</p><p>He doesn’t normally do that. Gen briefly wonders if he’s overthinking things.</p><p>“Hey, Senku-chan?” He asks, reaching out to pet his lover’s hair. “Are you okay?”</p><p>There’s a second of pause before the scientist sighs. “You’re trying some Mentalist shit on me right now, aren’t you?” </p><p>“Little bit.” Gen replies, laughing and swinging his legs. “It’s an actual question, though~” </p><p>Senku still has his chin in his hand, staring at the beaker intently instead of at Gen. He sighs again, fiddling with the dropper on his work desk. “I am. I just got jealous earlier.” </p><p>Wait--wait, wait, wait. <em>What?</em></p><p>“Eh?” Gen asks, eyes widening. He can hardly believe his ears, but with the way Senku’s acting, it does make sense. But--why? Why was Senku jealous? It would be a lie to say that Gen didn’t expect some form of jealousy from Senku--just, taking into account his personality and all, how despite the fact he never <em> said </em> it, Senku did get lonely easily.</p><p>Which was to be expected, in this Stone World… Especially considering his father, too.</p><p>“What? It’s fine.” Senku replies. “It’s illogical and a waste of time. I understand full well that we’re dating, so there’s no cause for concern. It’s fine.” </p><p><em> He said ‘it’s fine’ twice, </em> Gen thinks to himself, staring intently at his lover.</p><p>“You know, Senku-chan,” He says, voice calm and carefully measured. “Just because you think the emotion you’re feeling is a waste of time, it doesn’t mean you need to just ignore it.” </p><p>“I have better things to do then act like a clingy, lovestruck teenage girl.”</p><p>“Do you <em> want </em> to act like a clingy, lovestruck teenage girl?” The Mentalist asks, crossing his ankles. He tilts his head to better see Senku’s expression. As predicted, his eyebrows are furrowed and he’s frowning. The frown deepens. </p><p>“What I really want is to get back to working on this.” </p><p>Ah, diversion. An age-old tactic. It never gets old!</p><p>Gen sighs. “Okay, put the stuff down. Come here, Senku-chan.” He slides off the desk, facing where his boyfriend’s sitting. He places his hands on Senku’s shoulders, turning him so they’re facing each other. </p><p>Even though Gen’s only a hair’s breadth stronger than Senku, the scientist doesn’t resist or even protest. He does roll his eyes, though. “What?”</p><p>“You’re taking a break from spoiling people and letting me spoil you.” He pulls Senku in for a hug, pressing his lover’s face in his chest. “Metalist’s orders! No buts!”</p><p>“Gross. You’re an idiot.” Senku mutters, but he doesn’t pull away. He just buries his face deeper into Gen’s chest. He doesn’t wrap his arms around the Mentalist, but then again, that’s not really something he does unless he’s asleep, or if Gen requests it. Senku just wasn’t the type--he was more liable to just let his hands hang his sides during an embrace.</p><p>Gen runs his hands through Senku’s hair, thinking to himself. <em> Senku-chan’s blunt, and awfully forward with his emotions, but when it comes down to it, he’s most experienced in shoving them down because they’re a 'waste of time’ or ‘illogical’. He’s not used to letting himself </em> feel <em> his emotions.  </em></p><p>The Mentalist rakes his hands through green and white strands, threading his hands through Senku’s hair, humming the first tune that pops into his head. He doesn’t remember the lyrics, let alone the name of the song, but he hums anyway. Gen presses a gentle kiss to Senku’s forehead, brushing the stray strands of hair away as he does. “Was there something in particular that made you feel like this?”</p><p>“I hate when you talk Mentalist to me.” Senku mutters. </p><p>“My Mentalist talks are often for your sake, Senku-chan! Gosh.” Gen says, mock-offended. “Or for the Kingdom of Science’s sake. This silver tongued Mentalist boyfriend of yours is awfully useful, no~?”</p><p>“Heh. You’re flattering yourself.” The scientist replies. He pauses, and wraps his arms around Gen, hugging him tightly. His face is completely buried in Gen’s chest. The Mentalist can’t see his expression like this. Darn it. He mumbles something into the fabric of Gen’s clothes.</p><p>“Can’t hear you, Senku-chan.” </p><p>Senku presses his forehead against Gen’s chest, uncovering his mouth. “Earlier today, when you were doing your ‘magic tricks’.”</p><p>Gen recalls. Actually, he didn’t even realize Senku was watching him perform. Did he see it from the observatory or something? But he knows what Senku’s talking about now--after his performance, three of the village girls were fawning over him. He had laughed, taking a half a step back and shaking them off, distracting them with another trick, one with flowers raining down. </p><p>“Mmm, I see…” His heart flutters in his chest. Gen’s happy that Senku’s sharing his feelings, and in a weird way, he’s sort of happy that Senku got a little bit jealous. “Of course, I can’t change how people react towards me, but is there anything you want me to do, Senku-chan?”</p><p>The scientist holds on a little bit tighter. Gen’s heart soars, overjoyed, seeing a side of Senku that no one else does. He kisses the top of Senku’s head. </p><p>“Just this is fine,” Senku says, quietly. <em>Just you h</em><em>olding me like this is enough,</em> the scientist thinks, but doesn't say. “It’s not like I want you to stop your magic tricks or anything. That’d be an illogical and unfair request.” </p><p>Gen lets out a soft laugh. “You’re very considerate, you know. Even if you deny it, or try to make excuses.” </p><p>Senku doesn’t respond to this, silently burying his face in Gen’s chest again. It doesn’t seem like he plans to say anything else, so Gen figures it’s okay for the scientist’s face to be buried in the fabric of his lover’s clothes.</p><p>“Thanks for telling me how you felt, Senku-chan. That makes me really happy.”</p><p>Senku groans in response, and Gen can just barely make out a grumble that sounds like <em> ‘something something Mentalists’. </em> Gen laughs, running his hands through Senku’s hair again. </p><p>Eventually, the scientist lifts his head, looking up at his lover. Ruby red eyes bore into slate blue. Senku reaches out, cupping Gen’s cheek with his hand. “Mentalist.”</p><p>“Hmm~?” He hums, leaning into Senku’s touch. “What is it?”</p><p>“I love you.” Senku says, simply, looking deep into Gen’s eyes. He watches as his lover’s face goes very, very red. </p><p>Gen feels his cheeks and ears burn like they’re on fire. The Mentalist is struck with the sudden urge to fan his own face in an attempt to cool himself down. It feels like he’s been hit in the most unexpected angle; Senku was blunt about his feelings, but rarely did he voice his affections so plainly. Gen can’t help the embarrassment, blushing hard, like a, as Senku had so eloquently put it, lovestruck teenage girl.</p><p>“I-I love you too, Senku-chan.” He clears his throat, trying to conceal the shocked, embarrassed stutter in his voice.</p><p>Senku laughs, and grabs the fabric of Gen’s robe and pulls him close. He presses their lips together, kissing his lover tenderly, gently, passionately. When they part, Senku has a small, satisfied smile on his face. Gen returns the smile, happy to see that the scientist’s spirits have brightened.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>fun fact: i rarely write anything this short. right, okay. author's note.</p><p>(smacks my hand on my desk) i think if senku would get jealous he'd realize right away and just go straight to rationalizing it and then go "well, no point in feeling this, i'm going back to science now"--but he kinda does that with most emotions anyways lol. i really think the idea of senku being Kind Of Jealous as... fitting, especially since even though he hasn't outright STATED IT, after waking up as what he thought was the only survivor in the stone world, and after losing his dad, i imagine senku probably struggles with loneliness, but doesn't really let himself feel that, because there are things he needs to do that aren't being lonely. bringing science back to the stone world comes first, emotion comes... not even second, not even third. maybe like, tenth.</p><p>gen, being gen, being a "mentalist", being in love with senku, knows this. he's trying his very best (and is doing a good job) at helping senku be Slightly More Open with his emotions, but if you asked him why, he'd probably say something aloof like "ahaha, we can't have the savior of this stone world out of tune with his emotions, right~"... gen, even if you chastise senku for not being honest about doing things out of the good of his heart, you do the Exact Same Thing. "the pretense of evil is the pride of a shady man," and all that, yes?</p><p>(waves hand vaguely) well, i could probably talk about these two all day. lol, in my other fic's authors notes, i said i'd write another gensen fic soon, and here i am... i guess i made pretty good on my promise! (don't mind me suddenly slamming out a ton of fics! my first exams of the semester are coming up and i'm being a good student and doing anything else but studying. don't be like me, please)</p><p>in any case, this is marked as chapter one, because i intend to write a second chapter where gen gets jealous and it's senku's turn to comfort him. godspeed, senku, you blunt scientist motherfucker,</p><p>all of that aside, i hope you enjoyed! and if you did, feel free to leave a kudo, comment, or scream praises for me from the heavens--or, like, twitter or something more reasonable. thanks so much for reading! </p><p>ps: my favorite line from the fic was "love at first stone, perhaps." and "i hate when you talk mentalist to me." the former quote made me laugh manically to myself for about ten minutes. i was in a phone call. explaining why i suddenly broke out into laughter was incredibly embarrassing.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. born fruit</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Gen does better with it this time. He fiddles with the bits and bobs he keeps under his coat as a distraction from the ever growing irritation that bubbles up every single time someone gets too close to Senku, or looks at him with an expression too much like love.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Irritation. It’s a feeling Gen knows well. </p><p>More importantly, it’s a feeling Gen knows how to <em> conceal </em> well. He hides it with the practiced sleight of hand belonging to a Mentalist. It’s hidden behind a field of flowers, laced with malice and green, green envy.</p><p>“Senku-chan,” Gen starts, hands folded underneath the fabric of his purple robe. “May I have a second of your time?”</p><p>Senku looks up from his--well, whatever he’s doing. Gen can’t identify the chemicals his lover’s fiddling with, and right now that knowledge is second priority anyway. “Sure. What is it, Gen--”</p><p>The Mentalist pulls his lover into his arms, shoving Senku’s face into his chest. Gen hugs him tightly, trying to ebb away all the irritation. But it was more than that. It was more than irritation. There was another feeling there, too, something Gen was trying to mask and hide from even himself.</p><p>Either way, Senku’s nice and warm. He smells… like Senku. Gen wouldn’t go as far as saying Senku smiled <em> nice</em>, because he smelled like science and chemicals and… just a hint of flowers, and the Mentalist feels the corners of his lips turn up when he realizes that’s <em> his </em> doing.</p><p>“That’s all!” He says, cheerfully, completely sated. “Thanks, Senku-chan! Bye-bye~”</p><p>And then Gen disappears just as quickly as he’d left, Senku left standing at his desk with his eyes wide, trying to figure out what the hell just happened. <br/><br/></p><hr/><p><br/>It doesn’t happen again anytime soon, thankfully. Sure, the feeling comes back a couple times, but Gen does better with it this time. He fiddles with the bits and bobs he keeps under his coat as a distraction from the ever growing irritation that bubbles up every single time someone gets too close to Senku, or looks at him with an expression too much like love.</p><p>The feeling of pride--”Ah, that’s my Senku-chan, so impressive~” and the feeling of--of <em> whatever </em> emotion, the <em> thought </em> of “That’s <em> my </em> Senku-chan, could you keep your hands off, please?”--clashed. It clashed violently and left Gen at dizzying crossroads. </p><p>He wouldn’t act on such a ridiculous feeling, no. That would be completely uncalled for. He didn’t <em> own </em> Senku. But Gen allowed himself to admit that he wished people wouldn’t get so close to the scientist.</p><p>But it's no big deal, really. It's something Gen can move past or at least get over-slash-ignore. Maybe not the best way to deal with it, no, but certainly the easiest. Fastest. Whatever. </p><p>Whatever.</p><p>He’s doing nothing in particular when Senku calls out to him. </p><p>“Oi, Mentalist.” He says, walking over. “Come to the observatory later.” </p><p>“Eh? Sure, Senku-chan…” Gen says, watching Senku as he passes by, walking away to go to something or other. The Mentalist briefly considers tagging along but remembers he’d promised to show Suika some magic tricks. “Was there something you needed?”</p><p>“Mm, something like that.” He replies, noncommittally. Gen can’t quite parse the emotion or intent behind Senku’s words, but he gives a quick nod and flashes a smile.</p><p>“Okay. See you later, Senku-chan.”<br/><br/></p><hr/><p><br/>Later comes quickly, but not quite fast enough, really.</p><p>Gen climbs the stairs to the observatory, steps silent, willing the ladder not to creak, even though he knows Senku can practically sense his presence. </p><p>“So,” Senku says, not turning around. He’s peering through the telescope. Gen’s gotten quite used to this view--the midnight blue sky above them, but more importantly, the image of Senku gazing up at the stars through the telescope Gen had gifted him. It’s burned into his brain so deep that sometimes when the Mentalist closes his eyes he sees that image. Either that or Senku’s smiling face, but that’s neither here nor there. It is gay as hell either way, though.</p><p>“Hmm~?” Gen hums, taking steps closer to Senku, standing by his side, arms folded in his sleeves. He spares a half glance up at the stars--even without the telescope they’re shining brightly enough that Gen can make out countless constellations without squinting. “What’s up, Senku-chan?”</p><p>The scientist tilts the telescope down, turning his face to look at his lover. “What’s wrong.” It's a statement, not a question, but it's also sort of a question.</p><p>Taken aback, Gen blinks. </p><p>“Eh? Nothing, why?”</p><p>Senku sighs, giving him an incredibly flat look. “Listen. I’m no Mentalist, but it’s pretty obvious something’s wrong. So just tell me what it is already. We can skip the whole denial part. It’s a waste of time.”</p><p>“As blunt as always, Senku-chan~” Gen laughs, but it feels slightly hollow. “I’m guessing you won’t believe me if I say <em> ‘nothing’ </em> again?”</p><p>The scientist stares through the lense of the telescope again. “I wouldn’t believe you even one millimeter, Gen.”</p><p>“Your honesty is one of your charm points~”</p><p>Senku clicks his tongue, obviously getting irritated. Scratch that. He’s probably already irritated. Fair enough. “Don’t deflect with compliments.”</p><p>Was he doing that? No, no, Gen was just saying facts! Honesty <em> was </em>one of Senku's many, many charm points. Sure, he really didn’t want to talk about it, that’s true, but it’s not like he was purposefully avoiding the conversation! </p><p>Gen briefly wonders if that lie could sound any less convincing. Hm. Probably not.</p><p>He opens his mouth to say something, but words don’t come out. They don’t even form. Gen can… figure out the problem. He’s irritated. Envious. Aggressive. He wants to pretend the problems aren’t there, he wants to pretend like ignoring them will make them go away, he wants to pretend like he’s not--</p><p>
  <em> Jealous. </em>
</p><p>Gen feels something click. Oh. The irritated feeling's true form was jealousy, wasn’t it? </p><p>It’s weird, and slightly annoying that Gen wasn’t able to deduce this sooner. Jesus, what kind of Mentalist was he, even? Not figuring out something as simple as jealousy? Of course he was jealous--that irritation, that possessiveness, that envy--</p><p>It’s an unpleasant feeling.</p><p>A wave of self loathing and disgust washes over Gen, and he wonders if he looked as appalled as he felt. How stupid of him to be jealous. There wasn’t even anything to be jealous over. It’s not like Senku had an interest in anyone other than Gen--and science, but science isn’t a person. Thank god for that, because science would be an invincible rival for Senku’s love.</p><p>“I’m surprised you noticed something was wrong, Senku-chan~” Gen singsongs, trying his best to sound cheery, instead of how fucking <em> shitty </em> he feels right now.</p><p>Senku sighs again. How many is that now? Two? Three sighs from Senku? Something like that. Gen’s never been good at keeping track of numbers unless they had a suit to go along with them. Three of spades, six of hearts… </p><p>“Don’t make me start guessing.”</p><p>“Aw, but you love guessing!” Gen coos, with an impish grin on his face. “Science is all about guessing, right? You too~ootally love guessing, Senku-chan! You can’t fool me.”</p><p>“Gen.” Senku says, sounding like a teacher about to give a scolding. Gen feels a little bit like he’s going to get reprimanded and forced to sit in the corner of a classroom, or something akin to that.</p><p>A little corner in the village, maybe. A shame corner. A "go think about what you've done" corner. Gen amuses himself by wondering just how often Senku or himself would land in there. </p><p>But the scolding never comes. Instead, the scientist pulls his lover in for a hug.</p><p>Gen feels his heart skip a beat as he’s pulled into the embrace. Despite the chill night air, Senku feels warm. Gen wraps his arm around the other man, fingers clutching the fabric of the scientist’s tunic. </p><p>“What is it?” Senku asks again, and his voice sounds… gentle. Calm. It’s almost strange to hear, an alarming contrast to his normally intelligent, blunt, cocky tone. “It’s okay, Gen.”</p><p>“Okay,” Gen whispers, softly. “I just--it’s just…”</p><p>The words sit like molasses on his tongue, stuck, unmoving. They threaten to tip backwards, fall, and lodge themselves in Gen’s throat. He couldn’t say them, then. He probably couldn’t even breathe if that happened. It’s hard to breathe right now, even.</p><p>He squeezes his eyes shut, burying his face in Senku’s shoulder, hugging him tighter. He takes a very deep inhale, surrounding himself with his lover’s scent. Okay, maybe that’s a little bit weird but Senku, despite smelling like a mixed bag of chemicals, did smell quite comforting. It relaxes Gen. His muscles untense, and he sighs.</p><p>Gen’s sigh count? One. Maybe more. Stay tuned.</p><p>“When people get too close to you, I always feel weird. I mean, weird isn’t the right word. Well… it kind of is, actually. Whatever. Anyways,” He nuzzles into the scientist’s shoulder. “I don’t know if I should be proud your efforts are being recognized and you’re being praised, or if I should be annoyed that people are fawning over you when that’s clearly my job. I--I mean, people can fawn over you. That’s fine. It is, really. I can’t control how people interact with y--okay, well, I can, but I wouldn’t because that’s… even against my morals. Well. Maybe it isn't. Okay, no. It is. I wouldn’t. </p><p>“I just--I don’t know. It makes me feel like shit that I’m upset over this. It’s pretty stupid.” Gen laughs, all of his self loathing and bitterness shoved into one eerie laugh. “Sorry, Senku-chan. I’m just complaining.”</p><p>Senku sighs again, but it doesn’t sound irritated. It sounds… relieved, maybe.</p><p>“It was just jealousy? That’s what was wrong?” His words don’t sound condescending at all--though Gen knew if Senku said that to anyone else they probably would have thought the scientist was being a huge condescending jerk, but Gen knew his lover well enough to know that’s not what his words meant. </p><p>“Ahaha…” Gen laughs, wishing he could go dig a hole and bury himself in it. He didn’t want to dig a hole by himself just to bury himself in it, though. Maybe he’d ask Kohaku or something. “I guess so~ Pretty lame, huh, Senku-chan?”</p><p>Senku pulls a little bit away so he can look at Gen’s face. “It’s not like it’s lame or anything.”</p><p>“I really don’t know about that, Senku-chan.” Gen mumbles, avoiding eye contact. “Sorry.”</p><p>“Why are you apologizing, Mentalist?”</p><p>Gen shrugs. “You kinda seem like the type to be bothered by this sort of thing, you know? Like, me being jealous is illogical and thus annoying.” </p><p>The scientist snorts. “All emotions are illogical, Gen. But it’s not like it’s annoying.”</p><p>Gen doesn’t reply to that, opting for staring at the ground like it’s grown a pair of eyeballs and is now having the world’s most intense staring contest with the world’s most jealous Mentalist. </p><p>“You’re making a face. I said it’s fine, Gen.” </p><p>“It’s not, though, Senku-chan.” Gen replies, trying not to sound whiny but failing anyways. God fucking damn. “It’s really not fine. It’s stupid, it’s irrational--”</p><p>“Mentalist.” Senku cups both of his lover’s cheeks in his hands, staring straight into his eyes. “Did you already forget about the time I got jealous?”</p><p><em> Of course not, </em> Gen thinks. <em> Senku-chan, you said you loved me. There’s no way I’d ever forget a moment like that. </em></p><p>“I haven’t forgotten.” He replies. </p><p>“Okay. Did <em> you </em> think <em> I </em> was annoying for being jealous?”</p><p>Gen stares at Senku with a blank expression. “You can’t out-Mentalist me, Senku-chan. Not to brag, but I’m pretty damn good at my job.”</p><p>“Just answer the question.”</p><p>Gen’s sigh count? Two.</p><p>“No, I didn’t.”</p><p>“Okay, then why would you be annoying me by being jealous?”</p><p>Gen can’t come up with a good answer, but he does try his best. “I mean, I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, Senku-chan, but we’re two very different people with two very different professions and skill sets. I don’t react the same way you do to things, and vice versa. Just because I feel a certain way doesn’t mean you do too.”</p><p>“Can you stop trying to riddle your way out of everything?” </p><p>Slightly taken aback, Gen shakes his head. “Impossible. I’d be out of the job if I did that, Senku-chan.”</p><p>“You’re so stubborn.”</p><p>The Mentalist winks. “Pot, meet kettle.”</p><p>“Gen,” Senku says, sounding <em> really </em> annoyed. “Answer another question. How did you feel when I admitted to you I felt jealous?”</p><p>Gen stops, thinking of all the words in the world, sorting through each and everyone to find the proper descriptor for the emotion he felt in that moment. It’s stupidly, surprisingly simple. “I felt happy. It made me sort of happy to hear you say you felt jealous, Senku-chan.”</p><p>“Okay.” The scientist inhales and then sighs. Gen sees a flash of something cross Senku’s face. The emotion that appeared reveals itself alongside the blush that’s appeared on Senku’s cheeks. “Why do you think I wouldn’t feel the same way?”</p><p>“W-wait, Senku-chan, do you mean…” Gen asks, feeling his heart skip a beat. It speeds up. He feels his face start to get warm, too, and he’s willing to bet a week’s worth of wearing shoes that the flush of his cheeks matched Senku’s. “Did it make you happy?”</p><p>Senku doesn’t reply. He looks away, turning his head. Gen gets a full view of the red blush on his lover’s ears, and that makes him smile. </p><p>“Shut up.” Senku says, through gritted teeth.</p><p>Gen laughs. “I didn’t say anything yet.” </p><p>“Yeah, well, you don’t need to. I know what you’re thinking. Shut up.” Senku’s still looking away, seeming embarrassed. He clears his throat. “Anyways. Mentalist, I’m borrowing your words from before.”</p><p>The Mentalist blinks, staring at his boyfriend with wide eyes. </p><p>“I can’t change how people react to the things I do. Science is pretty amazing, after all.” Senku says, finally turning towards Gen again. They lock eyes. “But… Is there anything you want me to do, Gen?”</p><p>For some reason, Gen finds himself laughing. Hard. The fit of giggles came out of nowhere, really, but for some reason seeing such an earnest, caring expression on Senku’s face was strange. It wasn’t strange in a bad way, no, but it was such a stark contrast from his normal face that Gen couldn’t help but laugh.</p><p>“I’ll take it back, you know.” Senku frowns, and that just makes Gen laugh harder. “This is why I don’t like Mentalists.” </p><p>“Sorry, Senku-chan, sorry, it’s just,” Gen tries to steady his breathing. He focuses on inhaling, exhaling, staving off the laughter, but the second he sees Senku’s expression he starts laughing again. “Senku-chan, your expression was just too much--” He bursts into hysterics again, and watching the scientist’s face get more and more irritated didn’t help matters.</p><p>Senku starts muttering words Gen can’t make out underneath his breath, grumbling to himself about stupid, stubborn, embarrassing Mentalists.</p><p>Gen moves closer to embrace his lover from behind, resting his head in the crook of Senku’s neck, smelling the scientist’s familiar scent, taking in his warmth. “I’m sorry for laughing, Senku-chan. You asking me that, even though it’s not really how you’d normally do things, makes me really happy.”</p><p>“It also makes you laugh like a fucking maniac, apparently.” Senku replies, reaching out to pet Gen on the hair. “React like that one more time and I am seriously never doing anything you ask ever again. You’ll never get another bottle of cola from me. You’ll suffer a carbonation-less life of misery until society’s reformed and there’s another person out there willing to make cola for you, specifically.” </p><p>“Aww, c'mon, Senku-chan~” Gen coos, pressing a kiss to Senku’s cheek. “You and I both know that’s not true! You like me too much to ever say no to my selfish requests, right? Even if I asked for a million bottles of cola."</p><p>"I'm not making you a single one." The scientist grunts, lightly bonking his head against Gen’s. What is he, a cat? “And you're wrong as hell, man. I don’t like you at all.” </p><p>Gen hugs Senku a little bit tighter, nuzzling his face into his lover’s shoulder. “You’re so <em> tewwible, </em> Senku-chan~ I’ll start crying if you’re that mean to me, you know!”</p><p>“Cry me a river.” He replies, nonchalantly. “It’s ten billion percent true, Gen. I don’t like you.”</p><p>The Mentalist giggles, knowingly. “Uh-huh~ That’s because you <em>love</em> me, right, Senku-chan?”</p><p>“Against all odds, yes.” Senku sighs, and Gen realizes he’s totally lost count of how many times his lover had sighed. “Even if you wake me up in the middle of the night to see the stars, even if you get jealous, even if you keep whining and begging for cola, even if you’re an annoying, gross, stubborn Mentalist, I still love you. So you don’t need to waste your time worrying otherwise.”</p><p>Senku wasn’t good with words. He was blunt, straight to the point, and never minced his words out of consideration for someone else--even if telling the truth wouldn’t benefit them, he’d still do it. Ishigami Senku was just that sort of person. </p><p>Asagiri Gen wasn’t. Gen knew what people wanted to hear, he knew how to manipulate their desires, their hopes, their dreams--and he knew full well just how easy it was to twist someone’s thoughts for your own gains. He wasn’t a world renowned Mentalist for nothing, but it’d be a lie if Gen said no one was capable of the feats he was. </p><p>Gen knows just how easy it is to shatter someone into pieces with just a few words. It’s because of that, he always keeps his cards to his chest. If you had the brain for it, if you had the mind of the people, it’s not all that difficult to say the right thing, to say the words someone had been aching to hear.</p><p>But that’s not how Senku worked. Gen knew full well that Senku wouldn’t say something just because it was the thing that someone wanted to hear. His lover, the scientist, the straight-foward scientist, the savior of this Stone World… he’d never say something like this because Gen wanted to hear it. Senku would only say it if he thought it as fact.</p><p>The Mentalist feels himself laugh. “Thanks, Senku-chan.” </p><p>If Senku said he loved Gen no matter what, then Senku loved Gen no matter what. There were no ifs or buts about it--no fine print you needed to squint at, no misunderstandings or miscommunication whatsoever. </p><p>With a sigh, Senku wiggles around in Gen’s arms, turning around to face his lover. “Wrong answer. Close, but wrong. I’ll give you another chance, Mentalist. Answer right this time.”</p><p>Gen blinks, trying to figure out what Senku wanted to hear. He thinks back to Senku’s words from moments ago, replaying them in his head, replaying his lover’s body language, thinking about how Senku turned around to face him. Gen stares into Senku’s eyes, trying to read his expression. And then it clicks, and Gen feels himself smile.</p><p>“I love you too, Senku-chan.”</p><p>Senku smiles back. “Ten billion points to you, Mentalist.”</p><p>Gen feels his heart skip a beat, and he leans in to press a gentle, soft kiss on his lover’s lips. The Mentalist feels his lips curl up into a mischievous smile. “Hey, Senku-chan?”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“About what you said earlier, doing something to make me feel better… Even though you said you won’t indulge me anymore, I was wondering…”</p><p>Senku sighs. “Alright. What do you want?”</p><p>Kissing Senku again, Gen reaches out to grab his hand, entwining their fingers. He raises the scientist’s hand to his lips, pressing a kiss there, too. With a sly grin painted on his lips, Gen remarks, devilishly, “Can we spend the night together? Senku-chan.”</p><p>Senku stares at his lover’s expression, he stares at the way Gen’s holding his hand like Senku’s something treasured, something special, something that could break and needed to be handled gently. Of course, it’s not like Gen thought Senku was delicate, per say, but--</p><p>“Heh. Sure you’re up for it, Mentalist? It seems like we’re gonna have a long night ahead of us.”</p><p>If how they spent the night was any indication, it’s not as if Gen thought Senku was easily shattered. His hands on Senku’s body--on the scientist’s thighs, spreading them apart with an almost desperate, ardent frenzy--Gen’s hands were calloused and rough from all the labor that came hand-in-hand with the Kingdom of Science, but they were somehow still soft, still gentle.</p><p>Gen’s lips, pressing kisses on any part of Senku’s body that was within reach, were tender and sweet, even when he bit down and sucked at the skin of the scientist’s shoulders and neck. Senku’s lips were just the same--kind and loving, even when teeth were brought into the mix.</p><p>Exactly how Senku loved Gen wholeheartedly, despite (and perhaps because) of all his flaws, Gen loved Senku despite of, <em> because </em> of all his flaws.</p><p>To both Asagiri Gen and Ishigami Senku, the most important fact regarding their relationship with one another was thus: </p><p>They loved each other wholly, truly, and unconditionally. Even if neither of them would admit it out loud, both Gen and Senku loved each other to the moon and back, to the ends of the Earth--whether it be their original world, or the Stone World that they wouldn’t have met without.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>and then the next morning senku was wearing his collar suspiciously higher than usual</p><p>...anyways, author's note. </p><p>i mentioned this somewhere in the comments of chapter one, but i really feel like gen would be confused about what to feel when he felt jealous. be proud of people fawning over senku, because after all, senku IS pretty amazing, or should he be angry and jealous, because that's HIS senku-chan? </p><p>i can't help but think that since gen plays his cards so close to his chest, he'd--whether consciously or unconsciously--just sort of shove away the feelings of jealousy, but in a different way that senku does. gen would just brush it off as irritation that he can grit his teeth and bare like he's working retail on christmas eve. he knows just how easy it is to manipulate people if you know their weak spots, so i feel like it would take quite some time and effort for gen to ever actually open up properly. he's sort of hypocritical in that sense, where he wants to know what senku's thinking and feeling so he can help somehow, but when the positions are switched he gets incredibly guarded, even with  his senku-chan. </p><p>it's also the thing of, like, if you know a lot about how people and how they work, it ends up as a sort of... "this person is feeling like (x) because of (y) reason, which is only natural because of (z) factor", but sometimes when your brain works like that, it's extra hard to like... understand your own emotions. i feel like gen could miss something as ""simple"" as jealousy because he's more used to delving for a deeper meaning. </p><p>i also think he'd be hypocritical in the sense of, like, if senku gets jealous, that's okay, that's valid, it's understandable and it makes sense, but when gen thinks about himself as the jealous one it feels irrational and something senku would need to Deal with, even though he doesn't feel like he needs to Deal with senku's jealousy. you know what i mean? </p><p>it's a little bit hard to pin down how exactly gen would open up, i guess, about his feelings since he doesn't really... super Do that in canon, you know? like being actually vulnerable with his thoughts and feelings, because as i said before, gen knows that people are easily manipulated. if you know their weaknesses, they're easy to exploit, so (slaps my hand against my knee) that's why i think gen would be mildly difficult to deal with when it comes to this sort of thing. that's my hot take. my two cents. my onion. </p><p>anyways, my rambling aside, i hope enjoyed this fic! if you did, feel free to leave a kudo, a comment, shout praises to the heavens, you know the drill! i love it when people say nice things. it makes me wanna write more because i am a very simple person. praise makes me function like a well oiled writing machine (it helps that i really like writing)</p><p>see you next time i succumb to my gensen brain worms and slam out another fic! please look forward to it!</p><p>ps: here's a random tidbit about my daily life in relation to fanfiction. i wrote part of this fic while walking to class (you're welcome to guess which, but it's really not obvious) and as i was walking up the stupidly steep hill to my physics building, i passed this couple like, arguing-arguing. like literally shouting at each other for something or other. as i passed them, i was writing shippy fanfiction but really all i could think about was "...why are you doing that on campus?? is there no better place to do this" </p><p>that's my random tidbit about my daily life. i wrote fanfiction while walking and paused writing said fanfiction to try and deduce why a couple was just... arguing. in the middle of campus? fuckin... what? i'm also pretty sure they were arguing about passive aggression and snapchat, which really just added to my list of questions</p>
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